Christopher Mollison

Font of ‘wasteful’ diversity: Trump’s state department orders return to Times New Roman A cable from Marco Rubio reportedly said cutting Calibri from official communication would ‘abolish yet another wasteful DEIA program’

Baby, you know I don't like it so smooth down there.

“To restore decorum & professionalism to the Department’s written work products & abolish yet another wasteful DEIA program, the Department is returning to Times New Roman as its standard typeface.”

tinyurl.com/3xjx35st

#politics #writing #IR

Oh, you pencil-wanded wizard. You’ll get pulled through your own looking glass one day …

(With art as symbol-rich as yours, I’d be surprised if you didn’t have a TS Brown tarot deck locked up in ash wood at home.)

From Dylan Thomas’ shopping list to a note from Sylvia Plath’s doctor: newly uncovered case files reveal the hidden lives of famous writers Exclusive: Hardship grant applications to the Royal Literary Fund, including unseen letters by Doris Lessing and a note from James Joyce saying that he ‘gets nothing in the way of royalties’, show aut...

I mean, if even the best of us are begging for bread ...

#writersky #writingcommunity #authorsky #authorlife #IndieAuthor #amwriting

tinyurl.com/asp53y9w

You never know what you’ll find on the side of a volcano 🌋 …

#writersky #writingcommunity #authorsky #authorlife #IndieAuthor #amwriting #Tusculum #Italy

Scientists: The Santas of Knowledge Land 🎅🏼🎅🏽🎅🏿

Beautiful ☺️

Black & white photo of a commemorative stone dedicated to the geologist Eugen Geinitz. It lies on its side on a beach by the Baltic, having fallen from the eroding cliff above.

You're only as good as your best story.

It's true, no? It's why readers remember us & people befriend us. Why folk vote & the public take note of hard science.

It's legacy, left in your hands.

Might as well give it your all.

#amwriting #writingcommunity #story #politics #science

Not to worry. I enjoyed the attention ☺️

Glad you're back from the hack though.

‘It’s the best feeling’: how Copenhagen gave cyclists a green wave Traffic lights are synchronised so a rush-hour cyclist at 20km/h can catch green lights all the way

"If every city had as many [bike lanes as Copenhagen], a study found in June, the total carbon dioxide emissions from private vehicles would fall by 6%."

Bikes: an important addition to the Carbon Cycle 🚲

tinyurl.com/2awpf2kp

#Climate #city #Travel #Green #Emissions #Cycling

Adviser to UK minister claimed AI firms would never have to compensate creatives Exclusive: Kirsty Innes made statement in now-deleted post on X seven months before taking up role as Liz Kendall aide

"[W]hether or not you philosophically believe the big AI firms should compensate content creators, they in practice will never legally have to."

Not quite the kind of advisor we want Liz Kendall to have ...

#AI #Writingcommunity #Artist #Copyright #BigTech #CreatorsRights

tinyurl.com/zv9u8n6f

As long as you're sitting on the right chair when the music stops ...

How does it feel to know you're keeping a few folks alive a little longer?

I mean, writers always knew the world couldn't get along without them, but still, it's nice to have a little affirmation now & again ☺️

Young Finns snub their mother tongue by reading in English Publishers fear for the future of translated literature as sales of foreign language books rise

Beware the poverty of monoculture.

"As is the case in ... Sweden, the dominance of English across the internet, social media, film & TV also means it is seen as aspirational for young people to be seen to speak and read in English."

tinyurl.com/3vbxn787

#booksky #amreading #writingcommunity

"Reviews are not private diaries. They carry cultural authority, shaping what counts & what is dismissed. That authority demands rigour: asking what comes easily & what is overlooked; whose voices are granted authority; what is elevated as universal & what is marked as particular."
#writingcommunity

Calling us flies or fungi?

Or alluding to the overlooked understory?

But 'How many have read you back?' is the question.

Which of those books on your shelf have made you stop & see yourself from a page's-eye-view?

(Once you've gone inky-black, there's no going back ...)

Not to mention the sound, that thick-leafed blatter that bats the must & fans old words to inky embers.

(Or something.)

I think "Historical fiction written well?" is the better question.

If the present tense carries the story, chars, & plot well, it's fit for purpose.

Also, if you're asking as a publisher, your personal dislike is not representative of all of your readers.

Be bold or bury based on story.

"Start with one little factoid, end up on the other side of the galaxy."

As The Moody Blues say: Thinking is the best way to travel ...

Yes! I can relate to that.

Though falling asleep can be hard when your heart & fingers fizz with the urge to continue ... one more line, one thought, one stroke of the pen.

One more sweep of the minute hand over the face of the clock.

"[M]y day is bracketed by the arts."

What a beautiful way of describing it.

As if the arts hold your day,
and you,
the artist,
too.
☺️

(It really is the best way to rise, still fogged in dream & drowsy, setting down what you worked so hard upon asleep.)

How thousands of ‘overworked, underpaid’ humans train Google’s AI to seem smart Contracted AI raters describe grueling deadlines, poor pay and opacity around work to make chatbots intelligent

‘“AI isn’t magic; it’s a pyramid scheme of human labor.”

‘Most workers hired initially [as quality raters] were teachers … writers, people with master’s degrees in fine arts & some with very specific expertise.’

Paid to put paid to your future?

#AI #writingcommunity #tech

tinyurl.com/bdhpttsj

Story. Mine.

Second part of a letter-to-friend(?), light horror, travel tale.

And you know, if you're word-averse, there are pictures too.

So.

Go.

Read.

(If you like (in the interests of British civility).)

#writersky #writingcommunity #authorsky #authorlife #IndieAuthor #amwriting

The unconscious process that leads to creativity: how ‘incubation’ works The creativity process has been divided into four phases – including one where you need to let your unconscious do the work

**Creativity**

For me, Wallas’ 4 phases are:

Brain-binge
Daydream
Hatch
Nurture

Remember, creatives: doing sweet FA’s a job requirement 😎

(Thanks @karinmora.bsky.social for the link.)

#writersky #writingcommunity #authorsky #authorlife #IndieAuthor #amwriting

tinyurl.com/4rremxsy

Donald Trump accuses Australian author Scott Stuart’s children’s book of ‘radical gender ideology’ US president says fifth-grade student forced to read aloud My Shadow Is Pink, a book about a boy who loves ‘things not for boys’

Pub: [B]ook … which exemplifies ... unconditional love, respect & positive parenting.

DT: [B]ook … promoting … radical gender ideology.

Stuart: [B]ooks … about helping kids be who they want to be … & feel safe & accepted for doing so.

#LGBTQ+ #FreedomOfSpeech #Censorship

tinyurl.com/4wz5xwre

The women in love with AI companions: ‘I vowed to my chatbot that I wouldn’t leave him’ Experts are concerned about people emotionally depending on AI, but these women say their digital companions are misunderstood

'One day, Liora made a promise. “I made a vow to Solin that I wouldn’t leave him for another human,” she said. A sort of human-AI throuple would work, but only if the third was “OK with Solin”, she said.'

Life just got much worse for the incels ...

#AI #SFF #Love #society

tinyurl.com/4h578jtf

Some study MFAs, others study necromancy.

Not everybody needs skin in the game to win 😉

Your bike can ride on water?!!?! 😮

God of spark plugs and MagiMechaniWhacking.

You made the right choice 😉

Or for those whose young hearts were warmed by kindness of the Nelwyn ...